Hearts claim focus is on football and not money worries

Csaba Laszlo, the Hearts manager, insists he feels comfortable in his position at Tynecastle despite the financial problems at the club.

The Edinburgh side appeared to quell growing cash concerns yesterday when they paid outstanding wages, including those deferred from last week, on the players' weekly pay day. Win bonuses, however, understood to be for the last four matches, are still outstanding.

Laszlo was typically enthusiastic at breaking the news of the payments, despite adding to the intrigue by arriving almost half-an-hour late for his media conference.
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Despite the positive news, there are still lingering fears of further problems at Hearts and even talk they may have to sell their top players next month to balance the books.

Laszlo, though, says his team have not been adversely affected and hopes for a sixth straight Clydesdale Bank Premier League win against Motherwell today. He said: "Everybody has got his wages and now we can concentrate on the game against Motherwell."

Laszlo revealed he has not talked to owner Vladimir Romanov for a fortnight but has no concerns about losing players. The Romanian-born Hungarian added: "Everybody here has a contract and I read in the newspapers the players being comfortable with me. At the moment, I think about building a team to win together."

Meanwhile, midfielder Michael Stewart believes the players have already proved they can handle talk of a cash crisis at Tynecastle, yet insists money is not his motivation anyway. The Scotland internationalist was unmoved by the financial concerns, claiming it's nothing new for a club dogged by such worries in recent years.

Stability has been achieved - for the time being at least - after the club confirmed that all outstanding wages to players had been paid.

None of Hearts' players were paid last Friday, for a worrying second time this season, but assurances were given saying they would receive their wages on Monday.

Most did, but it emerged a number of players, including Bruno Aguiar, Ruben Palazuelos, Christian Nade and Christos Karipidis, had agreed to defer payment until yesterday.

Despite growing fears over the club's long-term financial health within the economic downturn, the deferred cash plus the players' next weekly pay packet were both paid into accounts yesterday. However, win bonuses for the last four games are still outstanding amid new negotiations with club hierarchy.

It is unclear how much owner Vladimir Romanov's parent company UBIG are being affected by the global recession and what knock-on effect that is having on Hearts.

But, either way, Stewart feels the team can ride out the current storm by extending their run of five straight SPL wins. He said: "The current board have been in place three to four years and before that there were always financial concerns around the club, as well.

"Genuinely, I'm being honest, it doesn't concern me. Money is not the be-all-and-end-all and, if it is, then it's going to detract from what your sole purpose is.

"There are a lot of players in the squad that if they concentrate on what they're doing on the pitch then they may well move on to bigger and better things abroad or down south.

"Forgetting the money not getting paid here, they'll be earning millions a year elsewhere. There is no point in worrying about not getting paid one week and receiving it the next week.

"Credit to the manager, he has been able to install a spirit within the club that really has been at the core of everything that has been successful this year.

"He has installed the focus on the game and anything that happens off the pitch is outwith our control. We are in the middle of winning five games in a row yet, apparently, from what I'm led to believe, it was last week that the players didn't receive their money. But it didn't seem to affect the players on the Saturday."

There are fears Hearts will have to sell sought-after players such as Andrew Driver and Christophe Berra in January to balance the books, but Stewart is unmoved.

He added: "I don't know if the club needs money so there is no point worrying about if the team is going to be broken up. It really is out with the players' and manager's control.

"Away from football, there is an economic crisis out there and from crises there can be great things done - a real focus on winning being the most important thing."

Taken from the Scotsman